Official SA 8000HD DVR Users Thread

[summerfun]

Originally posted by Mrtanner
What is the size of the hard drive in the SD DVR?  

The SD DVR has an 80GB drive and the HD DVR has a 160GB drive.

The SD DVR will give you 40 hours of SD recording.

The HD DVR will give you 80 hours of SD recording or 20 hours of HD recording.

[borghe]

I imagine it was done for those reasons.. I posted that back on one of the first pages.

TWC has known for a while now that many SD customers were picking up HD boxes and running them on their SD TVs. Customers without any HD sets in their house yet HD boxes. I imagine TWC wanted to prevent that from happening while the HD DVR would be in such high demand. In the long run it certainly comes down to money (the more HD boxes that go out the more TWC has to buy). TWC would much rather only see 15K boxes go out than 40K after enterprising individuals get around to it.. That's $30M extra TWC would be out with my numbers.. ($48M total).

Still, it leaves some people out in the cold. And there is NO reason for DVI to be deactivated. None whatsoever. Even if it is tech support related they should have left the box to beta longer before releasing it without DVI. It's like selling a six speed sports car and telling the buyer "You can't use sixth gear. It will be activated later on."

[mhz40]

Originally posted by borghe [clip]
And there is NO reason for DVI to be deactivated. None whatsoever. Even if it is tech support related they should have left the box to beta longer before releasing it without DVI. It's like selling a six speed sports car and telling the buyer "You can't use sixth gear. It will be activated later on." [/clip]

Oh p l e a s e.  It's more like selling a sports car without a spare tire.
Very few CE gear even has DVI.  It's over rated. On the set top that does support it, DVI displays flicker every time a channel change produces another video format or the IPG is used.  For DVD, I can see, but it's simply not the connection you want on a device constantly changing video formats.  Newer gear is shipping with DHMI, leaping over DVI.
If I were sitting here telling the group everything is set except the DVI port (wich has absolutely no availability date) activation and delays will push into the middle of next year, you would hunt me down and shoot me.
It's not deactivated... it's not supported in the current firmware.  Don't let it hold you up from enjoying HD-DVR.

[Paul S.]

Originally posted by mhz40

It's not deactivated... it's not supported in the current firmware.  Don't let it hold you up from enjoying HD-DVR.

BS. My set is calibrated (HD) to the DVI port. It will hold me up :mad:

[mhz40]

Originally posted by Paul S.
BS. My set is calibrated (HD) to the DVI port. It will hold me up :mad:

Yeah, I saw your earlier post.  That's too bad.  I'd be bummed too.
If I were you (and obviously I'm not!), I would run two set tops for a month (DVR parallel on a component input) just to see the difference it makes and make a decision from those results.  I ran both types of feeds into my Sammy and found DVI to be a pain --- and picture wise, virtually no difference in quality, with the added benefit of a better 'surfing' environment.
I know of no timetable to activate DVI on the DVR's, but that does not mean it's not on the roadmap.

[agrundman]

Originally posted by cglaser
It's happening on both...analog and digital audio.  However, it only seems to occur when I'm tuned to a HD channel.  It seems to be less severe on the analog though.  The picture will usually stutter and/or pixilate during these drops outs as well.  I'm going to get some new cables later this week too, as my current ones are a bit old and one is very very long (about 25') so I wonder too if it may be a signal issue.

I too am having the audio dropouts.  It is very annoying with the dolby digital output.  The audio dropouts cause you to miss what is being said on a program.  The problem does occur on both the analog and digital outputs.  I ended up just listening to the analog through the TV as the interruption wasn't as severe.

I certainly hope they get a fix for this audio problem.

[mhz40]

This was a chronic problem on the SPD/IF (coax audio out) during my testing, but has gotten a little better with each code revision.  The lab could not duplicate the problem at the time.
Based on my feedback from here and other sources, the problem is now known to be wider spread than just one tester and the hunt for a resolution is on.
I also experience freezing/tiling on HD & SD and lip sync problems on HD sometimes... then the next day (or days) everything is perfect.
Very weird.
New code is expected to be downloaded next week.  It will be done in the early morning hours and should not affect scheduled recordings.  I don't know if the new code addresses the above issues... I hope to get some free time to look into it next week.
Hang in there.

[gb4fan92]

Since I've had my HD-DVR box I have received 3 calls from TWC. The first one was to tell me that the HD-DVR's were in and I could come pick mine up ("Sorry I already picked mine up 2 days ago!"). The next 2 were just follow up calls to see how I liked the box. The first time I didn't have anything to say as I  told her that I'm  still  testing out all the features. The last time I got a call I had a question abour why is my picture keep freezing for a half a second every once in a while.The gal on the phone said the same thing had happened to her but went away after she disconnected the cable from the box and reconnected it making sure the connection was tight. So I gave it a try, first cleaning the end of the cable and then reconnecting it to the box. I went the extra step to tighten it with a wrench. WA LA!! The problem was solved.  :bow: My hats off to this customer service rep for some good basic advice.

[summerfun]

I have been getting a lot of picture freeze and pixilation. A lot more than on the old HD box. Each just for a brief second. Not a big deal and does not make we want to return the box. I am in love with the HD DVR, but I sure hope new software updates will fix some of these issues. The tech was out and signal strength is very very good.

[gparris]

The new code for updates from TWC for the HD DVR:

Does this mean I leave my box on for the updates

OR

Turn if off ?

Sure, this may sound like a stupid question, but I want to know for sure.
I usually leave my box on, especially now, since I had so much fun with its initial start-up:bang:

(I can hardly wait for the time I have to reboot it-ouch!):rolleyes:

SO what do I (we) do for updates?

Leave box on (green LED lights up for power) or OFF?

[mhz40]

The state of the set top does not matter (on/off).  The code update is automatic and controlled by TW technicians.  There are different ways code can be updated, but I think the method they will use is the type that waits for the set top to stop recording.  If you happen to be up at 2 or 3 am and you see weird things, like 'flash' or '-- --' on the display, do not unplug it... just leave it alone and wait the 20-30 minutes for the process to complete.

[agrundman]

Originally posted by mhz40
This was a chronic problem on the SPD/IF (coax audio out) during my testing, but has gotten a little better with each code revision.  The lab could not duplicate the problem at the time.
Based on my feedback from here and other sources, the problem is now known to be wider spread than just one tester and the hunt for a resolution is on.
I also experience freezing/tiling on HD & SD and lip sync problems on HD sometimes... then the next day (or days) everything is perfect.
Very weird.
New code is expected to be downloaded next week.  It will be done in the early morning hours and should not affect scheduled recordings.  I don't know if the new code addresses the above issues... I hope to get some free time to look into it next week.
Hang in there.

Does the problem affect optical audio output?  I currently have coax audio out, but would certainly be willing to go pick up an optical audio cable if the problem goes away.

[gparris]

Originally posted by mhz40
The state of the set top does not matter (on/off).  The code update is automatic and controlled by TW technicians.  There are different ways code can be updated, but I think the method they will use is the type that waits for the set top to stop recording.  If you happen to be up at 2 or 3 am and you see weird things, like 'flash' or '-- --' on the display, do not unplug it... just leave it alone and wait the 20-30 minutes for the process to complete.

Thanks a lot, mhz40. I didn't want to do the SD to HD push thing again (if it resets with rebooting) unless I have to.

I Hope the updates work well for all of us.

My audio problems are different from before when I had the SD DVR box, though I still use the coax digital audio out since I have them from before when we had no choice but to use them with the older boxes. I use Monster Coaxial Digital cables on both, but I  now have two extra ones, now, that I have only two cable boxes.

[MDR]

just a couple of links about the dvr.

take with a grain of salt, what you see might not be what you have. i found some good information.

Passport Echo:

http://www.pioneerbroadband.com/passportecho/passportechotour.asp

ScientificAtlanta
http://www.scientificatlanta.com/customers/Source/4004400.pdf

has the software update been done yet? would like to know if it's safe to schedule any overnight recording.

[mhz40]

Firmware is updated.  You should see a TV Guide logo in the program guide if you set top processed the update.  Channel tuning is also now quicker to respond--better for channel "surfing", along with faster responses to all of the other IR functions (Guide/List etc...).
You never needed to not schedule recordings; like the DVR in functions day-to-day for your TV watching, the update program works around your schedule.

MHz40